“MY HANDSOME BABY BOY!!!!” is how I address you almost every single time I talk to you. I can’t help it. You are so freaking cute. I am sad because I know you only have a little bit of time left as a “baby” but at the same time you are SO. MUCH. FUN.

You are always happy, always babbling, and always on the move. You are growing really fast and the worries of your size in the early months seems so trivial now. You really seem to understand what is going on around you and you definitely recognize the people who are constants in your life. Everyone makes you smile and you make everyone smile.

This was a fun month! You attended your first wedding!

You dressed up for your first Halloween!

You love to dance around the room, “drinking” out of your sippy cup, and playing with pieces of paper. Your favorite toys are a bag of wipes and your sister’s hairbrush.

You started taking a few more steps when we hold your hands and you walk around the coffee table with ease. So far there hasn’t been a food that you don’t like and we are moving away from purees because you grab the spoon and the container and make a huge mess. I understand that need to eat all of the food at once, kid.

Nursing is going well. Sleeping is the same. Lots of changes but everything is the same <3 I know it has only been 8 months but I feel like I have known you forever. I really really really love you.

You are such a sweet boy. It’s so easy to make you smile and to make you happy. You love chewing on anything at all, playing with toys that light up or make noise, and sitting near (or on top of) the dog. You are still a fan of yoga and do a better down dog than I do. I have you do a forward roll when I catch it and you always give me a big smile after.

This was another BIG month for you! You pull yourself up and onto everything (again, including the dog and your sister, because you love them). You crawl with determination and so much speed!

You love eating solid food and usually eat 2 meals a day (on top of bottles/nursing). It is usually oatmeal and a fruit in the morning and then a vegetable in the afternoon or evening. I am excited to start giving you more foods to try and for you to start learning how to grab food!

You love being in your crib and sleeping by 7:30 the LATEST (or else you are a crank pot, but aren’t we all when we are tired?). You still don’t sleep that well (usually 1 or 2 wakeups) but you are easy to get back down after you wake up so it’s not too bad for me and one of the wakeups is usually around 11, before I go to bed.

Everyone says you are a mini-version of your dad and I am finally starting to see it! Speaking of your daddy, your face lights up with a giant smile when you see him. I hear a lot of babbles from you so I am trying to teach you to say “mama” but I assume your first word will probably be “dada” because, obviously.

I got a new job this month and that means I have WAY more time to spend with you in the evenings. I basically spend the entire time telling you how handsome you are and kissing your cheeks.

It’s been about a month. Sorry about that. I wanted to post my training recaps weekly but my blog has taken a seat all the way to the bottom of the “things I want to do when I have 30 free minutes” list.

Training is just okay right now.

Week 8 was after the big 10-mile PR. The race took more out of me than I originally thought so I took a down week. I did a few easy runs and one long run of 12 miles.

Week 9 was the week that I got sick. Like fever, chills, fetal position, can’t lift my head, need help to the bathroom, can’t hold my baby kind of sick. I ran 5 miles that week.

Week 10 was better physically but took a toll on my ego. I ran a few easy runs during the week. Then came the weekend. I was signed up for a local half marathon and wasn’t sure how to use the race. Did I want to just run easy and make it a training run? No. Did I want to try to race? Yes. I knew better than to do this. I was sick the week before. I hadn’t done any meaningful speedwork in 3 weeks. But I tried anyway. I did a mile or so warmup, lined up, and took off. Within 60 seconds I knew that it was going to be an ugly day. The pace felt really hard. As soon as I hit the second mile marker, I started to slow way down and do what I should’ve done from the beginning. Take it easy. Make it a casual training run. But even when I slowed down, it still felt hard. Every single step of this race was a struggle for me. I didn’t want my music and I couldn’t get out of my own head. I wanted to quit. I saw my husband and my kids shortly after mile 10 and I just sat down on the curb with Jennie. I said, “Mommy is tired.” Jennie replied, “Do you need to take a nap?” YES, actually I would love a nap. Toddlers are so innocent and cute and smart. Ha.

The remainder of the race was interesting. I had given up by that point so I ran/walked myself to the finish line. I felt ok when I was running but I kept stopping for some reason.

I have some faith that it was just a bad day. I want a great race. I want the finish time I thought I could do after Jennie was born. It doesn’t come without work, though. I am going to put as much effort as I can into these final weeks of training. It’s not easy to get out there with a couple kids at home but training and racing makes me happy and a better mom (I think).

Meet Ashley

Welcome to Running Bun! I am Ashley, a working-mom who loves running and training for races, attempting yoga inversions, a strong cocktail, and a good dose of sarcasm. This blog is where I share a lot of random thoughts about the above with some parenting woes mixed in for good measure.